A Friend For A Thief
by Goldenstargirl
Summary: Story MIGHT be continued in the future. Gag/Teaser chapter up.
1. Hey That's Not REAL Gold!

Disclaimer: I Don't Own.

The Thief slinked along a cobbled pathway in the small town that he resided, and stole from, everyday. After he had, reluctantly, returned the golden balls to their rightful place atop the minneret, he had gotten plenty of praise from many people, but in the mist of the Princess and the Cobbler's wedding, everyone had forgotten about him, and so he had simply gone around stealing from anyone he saw as they were much too busy watching the wedding ceremony too notice as he slit their coin sacks, and pocketed the change, or as he skillfully slipped a pair of gold earrings or a gold bracelet off of a woman's ear's or wrist.

When the ceremony ended and everyone departed to their homes, he had slipped away into a dark alley for a bit of rest and quiet. The life of a thief was simple and greatly rewarding, and yet...he was just a bit lonely. Sometimes he could push the feeling to the side and remind himself that a thief didn't need friends and - because of their profession - couldn't have them anyway. But though he knew that very well as a fact, it didn't always appease him, and now was one of the times that he felt a little empty inside and longed for some companionship.

'What I am thinking? I don't want anyone and don't need anyone. Besides, if I DID have any friends, they'd probably try to take my treasures, and that isn't gonna happen. No way, no how!'

He thought to himself, for he very rarely talked at all, if ever. Something that had occured when his mother had left him at a young age. Seeing her once when he had been trying to sneak into the castle via the royal water pipe, had shocked him more than he had chosen to let show at the time.

She had left when someone found out that she had stolen a very priceless artifact from them, and fled to a different city. Or so he had thought.

It seemed that she was still in the same one that they had been in when he was little. He remembered how the man had found him, with his mother nowhere in sight, and had let him go because he was only a child.

He had been left to fend for imself, and had taken up the same occupation that his mother had - stealing. It hadn't been easy at first. Several times he had just barely escaped being caught, and had, had to flee as his mother had, but eventually he had mastered the skill and was stealing stuff left and right. He had to admit, it was something that he wasn't too proud of, but what could he do? No one would take in a homeless mute like him, and though he might have been able to ask for shelter at the royal house due to his 'good deed' he had flat out chosen not to.

The royal life certainly did tempt him, but he wouldn't be comfortable sharing his wealth and everything else with other people. He had lived alone for quite a long time and liked it that way. He was perfectly fine with his life as it was now, thank you very much. He was fine with being a thief. Fine with being alone. At least...he thought he was anyway.

He growled low in his throat as he moved past merchants and the like, all who were selling things that the gold hungry thief didn't even give a second glance to.

Suddenly though, he spotted something gold and his dark, beady eyes lit up in delight.

'Now things are beganing to look up.'

The crafty thief thought with a devious grin.

(A/N: This next part makes a bit of sense though you might find it nonsense. The thief was focused only on the gold object so that he didn't pay attention to anything except for the gleaming gold thing, so this is how he got mixed up.)

He slunk stealthily towards the gold thing, making almost no noise at all.

When he reached it, he stretched out his hand and quickly snatched at it.

"Oww! What in the world...?!"

The thief's eyes widened and he let go of the thing, retracting his hand as if he'd been slapped.

The long, gold curtain whirled around to reveal a girl's furious face glaring back at him.

Oh. So THAT"S what it had been. Golden hair, huh? Hmm...interesting...

Of course he had known it was hair the moment he had touched it, but before he had simply thought that it was a long gold sheet or something, blowing slightly in the breeze.

Boy had he been wrong.

The young teenage girl was still glaring at him, and he coughed slightly and turned to slink away again.

But as he tried to leave, he found himself unable to take one step. He glanced back at the girl to find that she had gripped a generous amount of his long robe in her hand and was still giving him an ultimate death glare.

"How rude! First you pull on my hair for no apparent reason, and THEN you try to walk away without so much as an apology? What on earth is the matter with you?!'

'Hmm...I suppose it would be no use trying to tell her that I'm a mute, since I can't talk.' He mused to himself with quiet amusement.

As the girl stood there, still waiting for the expected apology, he sighed inwardly and did something quite simple, but effective.

With surprising speed, he grabbed the girl's hand and quickly renched it out of her hold on his robe, then he turned and sprinted away, without a second glance.

'I don't think I'll be seeing her again.' He thought, chuckling to himself.

Much to his surprise though, when he rounded a corner...he saw the girl standing right there in his way, a look of utter fury on her face.

"Why you...you...imbecile! All I asked for was a simple apology and you try to give me the slip? Hmph! The manners some people have these days!"

He couldn't believe it! With all his speed and cunning he STILL wasn't able to rid himself of this girl! It was very annoying and the thief wasn't taking it sitting down.

Whirling around, he tried to make yet another get-away, but the girl, faster this time, jumped him from behind and wouldn't let go.

Getting more and more irritated by the moment, he tried to relenquish her hold on his neck, but her grip was surprisingly strong and her arms just tightened a bit more, starting to cut off his circulation.

Finally, he realized that, for once in his life, he couldn't win this time. Grumbling things that didn't make any sense under his breath, he gently tugged at her arms once again in a defeated manner, and she finally let him go.

Gasping slightly - 'Man she's strong for such a young girl' - he took a small step back and fully observed his tormenter for the first time.

She was actually quite pretty, dispite her ragged clothes and slightly dirty skin. She had long gold hair down to her waist that was actually rather clean and shined dimly in the late morning light. She was slender, and wore a plain white dress that was a bit dirty, but still clean enough to wear without one feeling self-concious. On her feet she adorned very worn slippers that were a color to match her dress, and had a few holes in the sides of them. Her skin was a cream color, even though the thin layer of dirt that covered her made it look darker in some places, and her light, hazel eyes, stared back at him with impatience and slight annoyance that he still hadn't made his long over due aplology yet.

Remembering what she was waiting for, he slowly took something from out of one of the many hidden pockets in his long robe, and very reluctantly handed it to the girl.

She stared at it with a raised eyebrow, and then back at him.

He simply looked at her with an expression that said, 'Take it or leave it, missy.'

She sighed and shook her head, as if to say that she didn't understand him, and then took the gold ring that was in his hand.

Slipping it on her index finger, she paused to admire the beautiful gift, and then she turned her attention back to the thief.

"I suppose that you are not going to give me a verbal apology then, huh?"

He simply shrugged and crossed his arms as if to say, 'Hey I gave you a gold ring, what more do you want from me?'

She gave him a small smile and a shrug of her own.

"Very well then, I get it. I'll accept your non-verbal apology and be off then."

And she did just that.

She walked off to who-knows-where and the thief ran away in the opposite direction, glad to finally be rid of her.

As he sprinted away he thought with much emotion,

'If I EVER see her again, it will be too soon.'

Little did he know, he would see her again sooner than he imagined.


	2. Catch That Thief!

The thief grinned as he walked down the cobbled street.

He had finally gotten rid of that pesky girl and was now going to-wait...was that GOLD?!

Yes it was. And this time it was a genuine gold object.

What he had spotted was a gold cup that a merchant had been gaurding...but that merchant was currently talking to a customer and had his back turned to the thief, who couldn't be happier to have this chance to steal another gold artifact.

He slinked up to the table close to where the cup was resting and slowly reached out a hand to grab it, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the merchant.

When his hand came into contact with the cup, he grabbed it and ran off.

The only problem was...someone saw him.

The woman who was talking to the merchant spotted the thief out of the corner of her eye and immediately shouted,

"A thief! Somebody stop him, he just stole a cup!"

The merchant turned to find that a thief was indeed running away with his merchandise.

He called for help, and before the thief knew it several other people were after him.

He ran as fast as he could and tried many different tactics to lose them.

But it was all in vain as they kept hot on his trail, relentless as he was to give up the chase.

Finally the chase and run ended when a bunch of men stopped him in his tracks.

'Great, this is JUST what I needed.'

He thought sarcastically as the men all ganged up on him.

Before he knew it, they had grabbed him, and dragged him to a wooden board.

A bunch of them put his arms on the board, while the others held the struggling man in place.

As soon as he saw the familiar gleam of a knife, he knew what was about to happen.

'Oh no, not this again.'

He thought with slight fear.

He didn't even have anything to substitute for his hands this time...he was screwed. Big time.

Just as the man holding the knife was about to lower it to chop off the thief's hands, a strong, defiant voice cried out,

"I command you to let him go, this instant!"

Everyone, including the thief, glanced over at where a young teenage girl stood, looking almost as furious as she had the last time the thief had enountered her.

'Now what on earth could SHE be doing here?'

The thief wondered curiously, as the girl stepped in front of the man holding the knife.

The angry young woman stared straight into the man's eyes and said with barely controlled anger,

"Would you DARE to harm the father of a young peasant girl? He's all I have. I don't what what I'll do if he can't work to bring me food. Why, I'd starve!"

She finished her speech with an outraged cry, and everyone started to look slightly ashamed and sympathetic.

The thief, for his part, was nothing short of impressed with his unexpected savior.

'Father, huh? Man she sure knows how to tell a good lie. I think she'd be useful to have around...'

The man who was about to cut off the thief's hands, gave the girl an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry young lady, I didn't realize that he was that important to you. I'll let him go just this once, but if he ever steals from anyone else again, I can't promise you it'll just be his hands that get cut."

Hearing that, the poor thief gulped at his bad luck, and watched as the man signaled for the other's to release him.

Once he was free, he got as far away from the men as he could, with the girl chasing after him.

When he had to stop and catch his breath, the girl spoke, and her words were not said lightly either.

"You great fool! Do you WANT to be killed, or injured, or something? What were you thinking?! Oh forget it! I don't even want to know what goes on in that head of yours. I'm almost glad you can't talk."

He glared at her indignantly, and she simply scoffed quietly and turned to go.

"I'm leaving now, and don't expect me to get you out of anymore trouble. Your on your own from here on out."

'Well good riddance!'

The thief thought watching her walk away.

Suddenly he realized that he should probably thank her, because after all she DID save him from being handless, something that would have affected him greatly, for without his hands, how could he steal?

Slowly he walked up to her and grabbed her arm, causing her to stop and glance at him questioningly.

'She better darn well appreciate this.'

He thought, as he pulled an object from out of his pocket and placed it in her hand.

She stared at him in exhasperation, as if to say 'This again?'

He simply stared at her blankly, so she took a look at what he had given her this time.

And gasped audibly.

In her hand laid a gorgeous gold necklace, with ruby jewels inbedded in it. In the center of the necklace lay a ruby bigger than all of the rest. Why the whole thing must cost a fortune!

She looked at the thief in complete disbelief, to see him with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at the gold necklace with longing in his eyes.

It was painfully obvious to her how difficult parting with this necklace was to him, and she said breathlessly, but with the genuine emotion showing,

"Thank you Mr Thief."

He just rolled his eyes and looked away, as if giving the necklace to her had been nothing. As if the necklace itself had meant nothing at all to him.

But she knew better and stared from him to the necklace with torn emotions.

Finally she handed the necklace back to him, as reluctantly as he had before to her.

He looked startled for a moment, and she smiled at him gently,

"It's okay, you don't have to repay me for helping you. I understand how much this means to you and I don't want to take it away from you. You can have it back."

The thief's eyes widened, and for a second he looked as if he was seriously thinking the offer through.

Then he shook his head, and turned away slowly, as if he didn't want to see her pocketing his most prized posession.

She gulped and carefully slid the necklace in her pocket, so it woudn't make too much noise and further upset him.

"Uh...well thanks, a lot. I hope we meet again soon. And if...if you need me to get you out of another jam don't hesitate to ask."

He still didn't turn around, and, as she didn't know what else to do, she slowly turned and started to walk away.

Before she had gone more than a few steps, she stopped.

She couldn't just leave him.

What if he didn't have anywhere to stay? What if he was sleeping in an alley somewhere? Surely he was homeless and jobless, otherwise why else would he steal?

And what if someone else DID catch him?

She shuddered at the thought of her new friend getting his hands cut off - or worse.

Nodding to reassure herself that she was doing the right thing, she turned and walked back to him.

He was still standing in the same spot, with his back turned to her.

It sounded like he was sniffling lightly.

Did that necklace REALLY mean that much to him?

Biting her lip, she reached out a hand, and lighly tapped him on the shoulder.

This simple action made him jump nearly a mile high and she had to work hard to hold back her laughter.

Quickly, he regained himself and glared at her irritably as if to say,

'What NOW?'

"Umm...well..."

Inwardly she sighed, wishing that this would be easier.

He tapped his foot impatiently and she quickly continued,

"Uh, It occured to me that you might not have anywhere to live, and, if that's that case, I was wondering if you would like to...maybe...stay with me?"

She held her breath as she anxiously awaited his answer...

A/N: Dun, dun, dun, dun! Cliff hanger, hanging from a cliff...and that's why he's called cliff hanger! Lol Seriously folks, please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. 


	3. A Place To Call Home

Disclaimer: I don't own this cartoon.

The thief stared at the girl for a long moment , obviously giving her question some deep thought.

On one hand, he could turn down her offer and continue sleeping in dark alleyways and stealing-oh hold on a minute, he'd always steal no matter what. It was his 'thing' really. He couldn't stop it, it was in his blood, he needed to do it. But anyway he could continue sleeping in dark alley's...or he could go with this girl to...well whever she lived, and stay in a more comfortable place for awhile.

Hmm...it might actually be a pleasant change for him, and he wouldn't have to stay, he could leave whenever he chose to do so. Really, if he thought about it, he didn't have anything to lose.

The girl was getting a bit nervous.

What was taking him so long to decide?

He was homeless...he should be jumping at the chance to stay in a warm house, and that's just what she was offering him. What was his problem?

Finally the thief gave her a slow, deliberate nod, and she grinned widely and grabbed his hand in excitement.

"It's about time you made up your mind! Oh, your going to love staying with me, I promise!"

The thief just rolled his eyes and thought to himself,

'I'm already regretting this decision and I haven't even stepped one foot inside her house yet!'

The young girl either didn't notice, or chose to ignore his hesitance, and continued talking animatedly while leading the way there.

"Momma's going to love having a guest! She always does. I don't know if my brother will feel the same, but he's hardly ever home anyway so that doesn't really matter. You won't have to steal anymore either because you'll have everything you could ever need if your staying with me, so you won't have to worry about getting your hands cut off, or...what did that guy say? Oh yeah, or worse. I don't even want to imagine what THAT could mean! But anyway-"

And it went on like that for the entire way. With the girl babbling on, and on about one thing or another, and the thief trying to ignore the ceaseless rambling and keep his patience at the same time.

Finally they stopped in front of an old, rather worn out looking, house.

The girl smiled sheepishly at the thief's skeptical look.

"I know it isn't much...but it's home. Besides it looks a bit better on the inside."

She said apologetically.

The thief shook his head and thought,

'This isn't much better than the alley. Oh well, at least it has a roof.'

He followed her inside the place, and immediately brightened.

It really WAS better on the inside.

They had stepped into what was obviously the kitchen area. It was rather warm and homey-looking. There was small round wooden table in the center of the room with four chairs around it, a stove on one end, a door on another that looked like it led the way into a pantry or something, a shelf with dishes and various silver-ware on it hanging on the wall, and other things that you would normally see in a kitchen.

All in all it was pretty nice, and the smell of cooking made it even nicer.

Something was cooking on the stove. Something that smelled distinctly like soup.

The hungry thief licked his lips hoping that the food was just about done. He was practically starving right about then.

Just then though, he heard a light, cheerful voice call out from another room in the house,

"Erica? Is that you?"

The girl, who's name was apparently Erica, replied in an equally chipper tone,

"Yes mom, it is. I just got back, sorry I'm late. I ran into someone in the market place."

"Oh really? Who was it?"

"Uh...a new friend, I guess you could say. I brought him home with me."

She added the last part calmly, as if it was perfectly normal to bring home strangers, as if she did it everyday. (Which she might have.)

Her mom answered her. First in a calm tone, and then in a surprised one.

"Oh really? Well that's n-wait, WHAT?"

Immediately the two of them heard footsteps pounding hurredly on the floor, and then a woman stood in the entrance to the kitchen.

The thief thought sarcastically,

'Hmm...this must be the girl's mother.'

Sure enough, the girl made this assumption a fact by saying still calmly,

"Oh mother, you really shouldn't start cooking food and then walk away from it, it could easily burn, you know."

She said this while walking towards the stove and then lifting the lid off the pot that was resting upon one of the burners.

Instantly, the delicious aroma filled the kitchen and the thief had to resist the urge to run over to the pot, shove the girl aside, and help himself right then and there.

"Don't you try to change the subject missy! Now just who is this person that you brought here with you?"

Her mother spoke in sharp, dissaproving tones, while eyeing the thief unpleasantly.

It was already quite obvious that she didn't approve of him in the least.

Yippie, yippie. Joy, joy.

Erica sighed.

Trying to reassure her mother she said in a soothing voice,

"It's okay mum, he's perfectly harmless. I even saved him from some trouble awhile back."

'Oh yeah, sure, let her know that I almost got de-handed for stealing something. She'll reaaally take me in then.'

This was the thief's thought's as he shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to another under the scrutinzing stare of the woman who was his new friends mother.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

Erica laughed nervously, realizing that bringing that up might not been such a good idea.

"Some people were trying to hurt him unfairly is all. I couldn't let them do that! I had to stand up for him."

Erica's mother's face made a quick change from suspiciously skeptical, to apologetic and sympathetic.

"Oh is that so? Well then I am very proud of you dear. And I apologize for wrong-fully judging you, Mr..."

She let the sentence trail, and the thief knew what she was looking for. He wanted to tell her his name but...

The girl saved him.

"Oh his name is Mr T-Mr Truman. And he can't talk, so he can't tell you himself."

The thief was now torn between being impressed by her quick thinking, and being scornful of her near slip-up.

She had almost said 'thief'. Now THAT wouldn't have been very good for him in the least.

"Ah. Well, Mr Truman, I apologive for my earlier rudeness. Would you like to have lunch with us?"

Boy would he ever!

He nodded enthusiastically, and the woman laughed in polite amusement.

"Well take a seat. The soup will be done momentarily."

He blinked and glanced over at Erica who had said that.

She stirred the soup slowly and winked at him.

He took the hint and took a seat in one of the chairs, her mother following suit shortly after.

Soon Erica was serving the soup, and when she was finished she took her place next to the thief and began talking happily about nothing in particular, as she had before when she was leading him to the house.

The thief really DID manage to ignore her this time, and instead focused his attention mainly on the soup.

When he had eaten his fill, and then had seconds, he yawned and stood up.

Erica quickly stood up as well, and informed her mother that she would be showing the thief to his room now.

"Alright dear, but...isn't it too early just yet for sleep?"

The girl rolled her eyes.

"Mum, he's had a rough day. I think that he deserves to take a nap right about now."

Her mother shrugged.

"Very well then. Goodnight I guess."

Erica and the thief walked to the bedroom that the thief would stay in.

It wasn't very big...and it was altogether really plain...but it had a bed and that's all that the thief really cared about at the moment.

Erica watched with some amusement as the thief stumbled tiredly to the mattress and flopped down on it, closing his eyes.

"I'll leave you alone now, okay? Sleep tight."

She whispered, and then left the room leaving the thief alone at last.

He was too tired for witty comments or any of his usual humorous thoughts.

All that floated through his head before he drifted off to sleep was one single, comforting thought,

'I've finally found a place to call...home.'

A/N: Now wasn't THAT a nice ending? I hope you have enjoyed it and I'll try to make the next chapter a bit more eventful. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	4. To Tame A Thief

A/N: This is a gag chapter. I MIGHT continue for real sometime in the future.

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie The Thief and Cobbler.

She was a genius. No, she was even better than that-she was the smartest person in the entire universe!

She smirked and said in a self-satisfied manner, "This will break him of that nasty little habit."

* * *

Erica chuckled, watching in amusement as he fidgeted uncomfortably. They were seated facing each other. In between them lay various objects, arranged in a certain way.

First, there were valuable items. The ring that he gave her, a gold bracelet, diamond earrings, and her silver locket. They were closer to the thief.

Next, a blue ribbon, a plastic snow globe, and a tiny porcelain cat were laid out near her. None of them were very valuable at all. At least, not to the thief.

The girl had already explained the rules of the game to him. If he reached for something of great worth, like the earrings, he got a slap on the wrist. On the contrary, if his hand inched towards an item of lesser value, he would be rewarded with a silver coin. Not as good as a gold one, but the objective was to get him to STOP stealing gold, so it was a sensible reward.

The thief, now known as "Truman" tensed considerably waiting for the signal to begin.

Erica said, "start," letting him know he could began anytime he wanted.

Truman inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to calm his nerves. Every part of his being wanted to seize the bracelet and run with it, but instead, he tried to make his hand grab the cat. It was so close. This game was his. He could do this. He could win. His body stretched the short distance, hand reaching...reaching...retracting, and making a sudden move for the ring.

No longer in control of himself, he gripped it and immediately felt a sharp pain on his hand. The thief dropped the ring as if it had burnt him.

"You really are hopeless." The exasperation in the girl's voice clearly told him he was a failure.

Gritting his teeth, he willed himself not to give up. He focused intently on the ribbon, and pictured it as a cloth made of gold.

Erica shuddered a little at the creepy look in his eyes. It was as if he were seeing the ribbon in a whole new light. His orbs seemed to become gold nuggets, the way a man's eyes would turn into dollar signs at seeing a million dollar bill.

Without further ado, he pounced on the ribbon and grasped it firmly in his hands, as if it was really precious to him.

The young woman clapped her hands nervously, a sweatdrop on the side of her face.

"Bravo! Good job."

She frowned when she saw he was still holding the ribbon.

"Let it go already, geeze. You win, here's the coin."

But the thief backed away from her, eyeing her suspiciously.

'_She just wants my gold cloth. Well too bad, cuz its mine now. All mine! She can't have it_!'

He started to get a crazed look on his face that made her uneasy. She wanted her ribbon, but didn't want it THAT badly.

"Okay, fine, you win. Keep the stupid ribbon! I'll just keep the coin then."

He didn't seem to hear her, he was too busy stuffing his new treasure in his pocket.

The girl was smart and easily figured out why he wanted her hair accesory so badly. '_He must have imagined it was made of gold in order to make it seem valuable. That idiot. He'll never change._'

Sighing, she resigned herself to the fact that Truman would always be a thief who loved gold. That was who he was, but she had hoped that she could at least kick his habit of stealing.

She amused herself with this one thought, '_maybe from now on, he'll only steal hair ribbons_.'


End file.
